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Charitable events create a lasting bond between the dealer and its customers, suppliers, employees

Giving Back
Excellence in Community Service
Superior Products Home Improvement
Denver, Colo.
When his wife was diagnosed with ovarian cancer, Tom Higgins founded Superior Products to be able to control his schedule through her recovery.
For many companies, community service efforts are a bit of an afterthought. But at Superior Products Home Improvement, the company might not...more »

After 80 years in business, specialty dealer transitions to a new supplier

Out-of-the Box
Excellence in Innovative Thinking
WindowPro
Cleveland, Ohio
The fifth generation of family leadership, Jake Zahnow, president of WindowPro, recently guided the company through a transition to a new window supplier.
When you run an 80-year-old company, you think in terms of decades rather than years, says Jake Zahnow, president of WindowPro. That long...more »

Robbyn P. Wysocki, an attorney with the Dallas-based Wysocki Legal Group P.C. recently sent out a notice to the firm's small business clients to make them aware of a provision of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act that may offer them a way to regain some cash if their businesses were profitable in previous years, but operated at a loss in 2008. Under the ARRA, small businesses that had a...more »

Window & Door has announced its 2009 Crystal Achievement Award winners. Selected by a panel of judges representing all segments of the industry, the awards recognize significant innovations and achievements in window and door technology, manufacturing, and marketing.
"The weak economy has created tremendous challenges in the window and door market. Our Crystal Achievement Award...more »

Photography that will help sell your products requires more than a good camera

In the world of selling windows and doors, one rule should always apply–make your product the hero. Whether you’re designing a brochure, revamping a Web site, or promoting a new product line in an advertisement, the product must always be the focal point.
In putting together printed or Web materials, too often manufacturers lose sight of the importance of a good promotional photograph...more »

Several times in the past year or two I've come across quite a bit of fodder on the generations in this country. The Baby Boomers are welcoming Generation X and Y, and even the Millennial generation (those born from the late 1970s to the early 1990s) into the workplace and the homebuyer market. And homeownership among immigrants has been increasingly rising ever since I started covering this...more »

Fleet Feet, a premier outfitter for runners, prominently posts a sign which admonishes buyers, "You don't buy a running shoe by color." If that isn't a great sales opening, then I don't know what is. The client is immediately forced into a mindset that says Fleet Feet is serious about running shoes and provides a product that gets the job done!
At Fleet Feet, they will tell you how...more »

With the recent passage of SB 2499 (“Medicare, Medicaid, and SCHIP Extension Act of 2009”), all businesses with exposure to tort claims–including personal injury claims–need to be keenly aware of Medicare’s reimbursement rights. Medicare’s reimbursement rules are changing, and businesses should consider modifying their liability and settlement strategies....more »

For better or worse, the headlines in today's WDweekly present a real snapshot of the today's economic landscape. Read just about any forecast or outlook today, and it will likely include a mix of optimistic signals that the worst is over, but also cautionary notes that the struggles will continue for some time before the economy can truly be considered healthy.
Among this week's stories, I was...more »

Looking to push the envelope on performance, a committed CEO has emerged as the new face of the industry

Two years ago, not many people in the industry had even heard the name Serious Materials. Today, everybody’s talking about the company. Even President Barack Obama.
Kevin Surace, CEO of Serious Materials, doesn't view his company as competing on the window and door demand curve—he sees it moving with the green building curve.
Earlier this year, workers at the former...more »